Complications
by Zairan Mai
Summary: It's my muse's idea, so if you hate it don't kill me. It's fun to write, however... Kagome X ?. I'd give a solid one there if I knew who/what it was... It's probably going to be sporadically updated... I need inspiration.
1. Complications

**Complications**

She didn't plan to be dragged down the old well by a youkai. In fact, if she had a list of things that she hadn't planned for, that would have topped the list. However, now that she had been dragged down the well and was in the feudal era, it didn't seem as if there was any choice she had but to live it out. That was the first complication that occurred on her fifteenth birthday.

The second was that the youkai who had dragged her down the well returned and attacked the village that had realized that she was the reincarnation of the old priestess Kikyo. They kept calling her that, all of them except for old Kaede. Kaede called her Kagome, the name that she'd been given at birth. "Give me the Shikon jewel!" Mistress Centipede roared as Kagome and Kaede made a hasty exit from Kaede's hut. Kagome was terrified, but knew that it was because of her that the village was being attacked.

"I'll lead her away," she told Kaede. "I'll… I'll run towards that light there in the forest!"

Kagome started running. That was the third complication. She was running away from the one safe place that she had found, and she didn't know if there would be anyone that could save her if the youkai followed her to the forest. She raced towards the beautiful, dog-eared boy that she'd noticed earlier. "SOMEONE HELP ME!"

That was when the fourth—and the most life changing—complication woke up. The dog-eared boy grinned down at her after she slid to the roots of the tree. "So you've sunken to exterminating bugs, and yet the powerful Kikyo, guardian of the Shikon jewel, cannot even manage to kill the centipede." Finally, Kagome had had enough.

"Kikyo, Kikyo, Kikyo! Who is she! I can assure you that I am not—."

"She's here," the dog-eared boy said, staring at the fringe of trees around the clearing, making Kagome turn and look, too. The centipede burst through the leaves.

"Give me the jewel, give it to me!"

After the demon sent Kagome spiraling through the air, knocking a pink jewel from the girl's side, she held onto the boy (whose name had been revealed by Kaede when she'd seen he was awake) for safety, and then the centipede had start to crush her against the tree. "Can you pull this arrow out?" Inuyasha, the dog-eared boy, asked. Kagome reached up, but couldn't reach it completely. Her arm sank back down.

"Do not do it, child. That seal was laid on him by my sister Kikyo."

"With me, you have a chance. With that thing," he nodded his head towards the centipede, "you don't have the slightest hope. What do you choose, girl?"

Kagome thought about it, and then decided. "Given the choice…"

She reached up and gripped the ancient arrow tightly. "I choose to LIVE!"

The arrow pulsed and disintegrated, and the hanyou Inuyasha was freed from the tree fifty years after he'd been bound.


	2. Searchers

**Searchers**

It had been an accident. Kagome had simply wanted to free the little boy that the carrion youkai was attempting to kidnap, but it had turned out so terribly wrong. She'd saved the child, but the consequences of that incited the wrath of Inuyasha and started the quest to reassemble the Shikon jewel. The little boy's family was grateful to Kagome for saving him, but Inuyasha had yelled at her for what seemed like an hour.

She'd promptly "sit" him, a skill that had been acquired when Kaede had placed the subjugation necklace around his neck, and he hit the ground hard.

A little bit after that, she and the hanyou had been alerted to the fact that there was a powerful youkai looking for Inuyasha, and that they should be careful.

The aristocratic assassin, Sesshoumaru, had found them fairly quickly after that by using a demon that mimicked the form of your mother. The youkai stole the form of Inuyasha's mother, obviously, and that was how the taiyoukai tricked them.

He proceeded to pull the tomb, a black pearl, from Inuyasha's eye, and opened the portal into the death realm that the great dog general's body resided in. Inuyasha and Kagome followed.

It was there that she first saw the tall, warm, tired looking youkai warrior. His armor had quite obviously seen better days, and he leaned against a fraying sheath like it was a cane. His face tightened in pain when Inuyasha called the blade that rested in a metallic platform near the youkai warrior "a piece of junk". That was when Kagome's heart went out to him.

That was when the youkai saw her, and a soft smile curled his lips into a pleasant curve. He beckoned to her, and she obeyed, holding onto the hilt of the sword in the platform. She glanced back towards Inuyasha, and saw that Sesshoumaru was about to kill him. "Inuyas—."

The sword that had been trapped in the platform when the two half-brothers had tried to pull it out came out with ease for Kagome, and the tired-looking youkai grinned at her as she stared at the blade. _"It is called Tetsusaiga," _a warm voice said gently in her head. _"It is the fang of their father, and it can kill one hundred demons with a single blow. It was forged to protect the Inu-no-Taisho's human mate, Izayoi."_

While Kagome listened to the warm voice, she stared with shock at Sesshoumaru, who had leapt to her when she'd freed the sword. Kagome hadn't been paying attention to Sesshoumaru, but she should've. If she had, she may've been able to escape the attack that ended up getting her surrounded by the melted bone.

"_Little miko!"_ the warm voice cried, and in Kagome's head, she suddenly could see him. _"Little miko, are you alright?"_

_I'm fine, I think,_ Kagome thought to him. _Just… cramped. And my nose is stinging, but I think that's because of the acidic scent. What is going on?_

The warrior sighed. _"It's a long story," _he admitted.

Kagome smiled. _I want to hear it. Is it about the Inu-no-Taisho?_

"_Yes."_


	3. InunoTaisho

**Inu-no-Taisho**

_The Inu-no-Taisho had a mate, the Lady of the West. She is Sesshoumaru's mother, and it is her navy moon that he carries on his forehead. His father, however, was mated to her because it was the easiest way to establish a treaty with her clan. They were not mated for very long, however, and the bond between mates was never established. Their mating ended after Sesshoumaru was born. _

_Sesshoumaru wanted simply to be loved by his father, but his father was constantly preoccupied, so it got to the point that Sesshoumaru decided that he'd show his father that he could be just as strong as the Inu-no-Taisho. In any case, I'm sure that Sesshoumaru does not hate his father, and I can assure you that the Inu-no-Taisho did not hate Sesshoumaru. _

_Sesshoumaru hated that his father had fallen in love with a human, Izayoi, and he hated that the Inu-no-Taisho had mated with her. However, unlike Sesshoumaru's mother, Izayoi refused to be marked as the Inu-no-Taisho's mate, and nothing that he did could convince her to let him mark her. She was carrying a pup, a hanyou. Her guardsman, Takemaru of Setsuna, had taken her to a palace where she could "give birth" to the pup in safety. Takemaru planned to kill the woman that he loved because she had been with the Dog General. _

_The last request that Sesshoumaru made of his father was, "Father, before you go, leave me the Tetsusaiga."_

"_Why?" the Inu-no-Taisho asked. _

"_My path is that of supreme conquest."_

"_Ha," the General snorted, "Supreme conquest. What a _noble _path, son. Tell me, Sesshoumaru. Have you… someone to protect?"_

"_Someone to protect?"_

_Sesshoumaru calculated the proper answer. He knew that having someone to protect simply made one weaker, and his father, that great and terrible inuyoukai, was proof. "No. This Sesshoumaru has no one to protect."_

_The Inu-no-Taisho laughed and transformed into his true form, leaping into the air and running along the clouds until he could reach his mate's "hidden" palace. That day, he'd fought against the dragon Ryuukotsuei, and the injuries that he'd sustained did not help him when it came to the guards at the palace. He did not fall when he attempted to break into the palace. He fell when a burning ceiling beam crushed him, after he'd let Izayoi and his young son escape into the night._

_Nothing amazing has happened here for almost five hundred years, but now his two sons fight over the fang that the Inu-no-Taisho left behind. Sesshoumaru already holds a fang; this fang is supposed to be Inuyasha's. Will you help him get the fang?_

"Yes, I will."


	4. Surprises

**A/N: Whoa, I was surprised to have gotten a review that fast! So this chapter is for Natsumi15, my first reviewer! :) Anyways, I realized that I forgot to put a disclaimer. Disclaimers annoy me, and since I don't feel like taking the time to put a universal one up on my profile at the moment, here it is: I do not own InuYasha. He (and the rest of the characters) belong to the amazing Rumiko Takashi. **

**Surprises**

Kagome shot out from beneath the stifling, rubbery bits of bone that had been melted by Sesshoumaru's dokkaso, and coughed. She straightened to find that not only were the two brothers staring at her, they were also frozen in a somewhat battle-like position. "You!" she snarled, waving the sword in Sesshoumaru's general direction, "You just tried to kill me, didn't you! I'm gonna make you pay!"

She heard the soft snickering of the somewhat weary-looking youkai next to her, and she shot a delicate sneer in his general direction. She made her way cautiously to Inuyasha. "I think we may've underestimated it. You just need to believe in it, the same way that I believe in you."

Inuyasha eyed the sword doubtfully. To him, it just looked like a piece of junk, rusted over from age and disuse. Then it hit him, and he stared at Kagome. "Wait, how are you alive?"

Kagome stared at her hands, curious, and heard the snickering again. _"That would be because you are human, and the fang was created to protect humans. However, do not tell that to Inuyasha. He needs to learn that on his own."_ She sighed. Basically, she was keeping the key to making the sword—fang?—to herself, and she got the faint feeling that if Inuyasha ever found that out, he'd not enjoy that fact. But she decided that listening to the older, more powerful youkai who had told her about the fang and its father would be smarter than listening to herself.

She shrugged, "I'm not sure."

Sesshoumaru's voice interrupted them. "If the sword was truly intended for you, then this Sesshoumaru shall bear witness to it." His long hair blew up around him, and there was a distinctly pink tinge to the air that was around him. Kagome shrunk down behind Inuyasha, and when the skulls that littered the floor around them started flying through the air in an attempt to hit them, Inuyasha warded them off. Kagome flinched when one nailed the hanyou directly in the face, but Inuyasha just shrugged it off. Then something relatively startling happened: Sesshoumaru's eyes, already wide, spilled into blood red with a light blue iris/pupil.

When his face elongated into that of a dog's, Kagome attempted to keep calm but failed somewhat miserably. "Inuyasha," she squeaked.

"Ha, good, he's finally showing us his true form."

For some reason, Kagome couldn't say that she agreed with that sentiment of 'good'.


	5. Promises

**Promises**

After Sesshoumaru had let loose with his acidic drool and poisonous breath, Myouga had encouraged Kagome to 'run'. The meaning behind that: Climb up and out of the skeleton of Inu-no-Taisho as fast as you can. Kagome complied with that, worrying over Inuyasha. Her warm youkai companion was already at the top waiting for her when she finally got there. _"Soon, the two of them will be here," _he announced, and Kagome shuddered. Sesshoumaru didn't exactly give her a wonderfully fuzzy feeling.

Suddenly, Sesshoumaru broke through the shoulder of the giant skeleton, and Kagome's heart nearly froze when she realized that he held Inuyasha in his mouth. For some reason, though, the flea demon seemed to think that it was Inuyasha and the Tessaiga that had broken through the armored shoulder. "Do you see the true power of the Tessaiga now?" he demanded, and Kagome stared at him. She wasn't exactly sure what to think of the flea. It was fairly obvious that Inuyasha didn't think highly of him, and that was proven when Inuyasha turned his head to look at the flea, seeming to have heard what Myouga had said.

"Where have you been?" Inuyasha demanded. "This thing's about as useful as a walking stick!"

Kagome saw her new friend's eyes fill with hurt, and she winced. Why wasn't Inuyasha being careful about what he was saying? It was fairly obvious that this youkai was attached to the sword…

Attached to the sword? She gasped silently, and the sword-spirit winked at her before holding a single finger in front of his lips. _Don't say anything._

"Well, then," Myouga said, "Maybe the sword wasn't meant for you, then!" With that, the cowardly flea ran away. The two half-brothers continued fighting, Inuyasha complaining all the while about the fang. Kagome trotted over to where Inuyasha was taking a breather.

"Keep it up!" she said, "I think that last one hit!"

The look Inuyasha gave her implied that he thought she was crazy. "Are you crazy?" he demanded, proving that his look had, in fact, questioned her sanity. Kagome was more preoccupied by the look in the sword-spirit's eyes than by what Inuyasha was saying, but then he said something that caught her attention. "Me, I'm half-demon, I'll survive. You, though? You don't have a chance."

Tears welled in her eyes. Inuyasha, who had turned to walk away, froze and spun. "What are you doing?" he demanded, "Are you crying? NO CRYING!" he roared.

Anger thrilled through Kagome. "Then should I laugh?" she snarled, confused momentarily by the random anger, but she shrugged it off.

"No, you should shut up and let me protect you!"

In that instant, her sword-spirit friend suddenly didn't look as old or tired anymore; triumph made his eyes glow, and then he said to her, _"After this, I won't be able to talk to you any more. I'll only be able to talk to Inuyasha, and that's only if he's able to hear me. I am Tessaiga, the fang of the Inu-no-Taisho, Kagome."_

Kagome watched as her two friends strode towards the huge taiyoukai, Sesshoumaru, and couldn't help the shock that spilled into her. _Did he just promise to protect me?_

The fang Tessaiga's true form exploded into existence, and on the sword-spirit's face was a look of utter determination. He wasn't going to let Sesshoumaru hurt Kagome.


	6. Comparison

**Comparison**

That was it. She'd had enough of it. "Sit, boy!"

Inuyasha met the ground with a loud, painful sounding thud. Kagome was furious. All the time, he constantly was comparing her to his Kikyo! "Kikyo this," "Kikyo that," and Kagome had finally had enough. Suddenly she paused, hearing a strange rumble.

"Uh, Kagome?" Inuyasha said, "I think I'm hungry."

Kagome sighed and set to work setting up the necessities for making ramen.

"Ah, that was good!" Inuyasha praised, and Kagome, who'd been staring coldly at a textbook, glanced up at her companion. "Whoa, what's your issue?" he wondered.

"Oh, I don't know," she said through clenched teeth. "Maybe it's that we're sitting on an old battlefield as you enjoy the ramen that I made you. Yeah, I think that's it."

"Why does it bother you?" he asked, somewhat stupidly. Tessaiga shook his head in misery. The stupid pup hadn't learned yet that females—especially the time-travelling miko that Inuyasha travelled with—did not like battlefields one bit. Tessaiga hadn't left Kagome's side since he'd first seen her in the Inu-no-Taisho's skeleton, and Kagome was glad for that. Tessaiga was the one thing that was protecting her in this strange era. She shouldered her huge bag and her bow and arrows, wincing when they brought up yet another memory of an unspoken comparison to Kikyo. Kaede and Inuyasha had simply thrust the bow and arrow at her, expecting her to know how to use it. They had no patience for when she screwed up.

_I am so tired of this comparison to Kikyo. I'm not her, and she's not me! Does anyone understand that?_

Tessaiga placed a warm hand on Kagome's shoulder, and while she felt no pressure as she would've had Tessaiga been substantial, she did feel the warmth that he was trying to give her. It was his unspoken way of saying, "I understand. You are not the dead miko, and she is not you. I am here for you."

It was almost surprising how well Tessaiga knew Kagome, and it wasn't as surprising as it should have been for Kagome when she realized that it was the sword she returned for, and not Inuyasha. It was Tessaiga that was her protector, not Inuyasha—there was no way that she could even attempt to make a comparison between the two.


	7. Shippou

**Shippou**

Kagome's heart went out to the little fox kit the instant she saw him that first time. She knew the pain that he was going through, in a way, but she couldn't do much for the kit. She understood that the reasons he wanted the Shikon shards were pure in logic, but she couldn't let him have them. Shippou solved her moral dilemma by stealing them from her, after trapping Inuyasha beneath a stone statue thing. Tessaiga was laughing at the hanyou the entire time, and when Tessaiga realized that the hanyou was stuck there until the kit removed the sticker, he fell over laughing. Kagome relaxed. Tessaiga and Inuyasha were so very different, but they were the same in a weird way.

However, when Kagome had to chase after the fox kit, Tessaiga abandoned the hanyou and followed her. His molten-gold eyes were hard and cold, as if he knew what was going to happen. Kagome tracked down Shippou, and was talking to him when Manten, one of the Thunder Brothers, appeared. Kagome, scared, fired off her arrows, but she wasn't an accomplished archer. She missed, and accidently rubbed off the youkai's prized possession—his hair. Manten lost it, raging at her, and the last thing Kagome managed to remember was the furious look in Tessaiga's eyes.

_He has a cleaver. Oh, god, this cannot be good._ Kagome eyed the cleaver, and suddenly her eyes were drawn to the youkai that stood a little behind Manten. It was a beautiful woman who had sad eyes and night black hair. The youkai woman looked at Kagome and tears slipped down the youkai's face. _Why is she crying?_ Kagome wondered. Then the cleaver was flying towards Kagome's neck, and a squeak escaped from her before she dodged. The warm, safe feeling that Tessaiga had given her when Sesshoumaru had shot his dokkaso at her returned, and she turned to her left with shock. Tessaiga had followed her?

Tessaiga's silver hair was tied back loosely, and the jagged half-stripes that were on his face were glowing brightly. His golden eyes were tinting red, and with shock Kagome realized that he was talking to the sad youkai woman. The woman was sobbing, shrugging, and Kagome got the feeling that she was saying "there is nothing I can do to stop him!"

Tessaiga suddenly pressed down on Kagome's shoulder, and the shock of it sent Kagome down, hitting the deck in a literal way. The cleaver whistled through the air, and Manten cursed. "Stop moving, onna!"

"Whatcha doin', Manten?" A voice asked, and suddenly the door to the room that Kagome was in opened, revealing a more human looking youkai with his arm draped over a youkai woman's shoulders. _Maybe he'll help me!_

Tessaiga's hand, squeezing her shoulder in warning, made her stop before she got started. "Uh, uh," Manten stuttered, shoving the cleaver behind his back, "Nothing, Hiten."

"Did you get the jewel shards?" Hiten asked, and Manten winced.

"I had them…"

"Good job, brother!" Hiten crowed, and Manten looked down.

"But the fox runt stole them from me."

Anger twisted the human-looking brother's face, and Kagome was suddenly grateful for Tessaiga restraining her. Instead of roasting his brother, however, Hiten roasted the youkai girl behind him.

Kagome sighed. What had she gotten herself into this time?


	8. Thunderbolts

**Thunderbolts**

Kagome was terrified of Hiten's weapon. The youkai had an ugly face, scarred and twisted, burnt in some places from the lightning that was used to power the strength of Hiten and his strikes, and its eyes were a murky red-brown, reminding Kagome of old blood. She shivered, and didn't miss the warm feeling that Tessaiga sent her way. She was slowly beginning to realize that the warm feeling was youki, the youkai energy. Shippou's wasn't warm, comforting, and familiar like Tessaiga's, but his was bouncy, playful, and mischievous. It fit the fox kit perfectly. The Thunder Brothers had a strange youki, since it felt as if the two of them shared a bit of it. And there was the feeling of purity that no youkai should have—unless they had a shard of the Shikon jewel.

Tessaiga moved, catching Kagome's attention and drawing it back towards the youkai that shadowed Hiten. It sneered at her, baring fangs that were long, wicked, and stained a rusty red. Kagome bit her lip, stifling the scream that so desperately wanted to escape from her lips. Tessaiga's shimmery form stepped in front of her, blocking her from the other youkai's view, and Kagome sighed with relief. Inuyasha was yapping at Hiten, trying to keep his attention away from her. It was working, until Manten crept up behind her and grabbed her, sending Tessaiga into a rage and Inuyasha into one simultaneously. "Kagome!" Inuyasha yelled, casting a desperate, angry look in her direction.

"What are you doing, half-breed?" Hiten sneered, taking the chance to try and deal Inuyasha a fatal strike, "Are you so distracted by that onna that you cannot fight me?" Rage thrilled through Kagome. _What a jerk!_ she thought.

Hiten shifted his spear-thing, aiming it in Kagome's general direction. "Let me get rid of the distraction so you will fight me without having to focus on two things at once!"

"Let me, brother," Manten snarled, and Hiten looked at Manten curiously before shrugging.

"Alright, she's all yours," Hiten said, and refocused on Inuyasha.

"Eep!" Kagome squeaked, and rolled out of the way just in time to have the tips of her hair get singed by the thunder blast that Manten had released. Tessaiga growled, the vibrations travelling to her without the sound. She was still slightly unnerved by that, how the youkai could send vibrations to her like that, but she dealt with it accordingly. Besides, there had been times when those vibrations had saved her life (for example, when Manten had attempted to cut her head off).

"Kagome!" Kagome jumped, startled. The young voice wasn't Inuyasha's, and it definitely wasn't Tessaiga. "Kagome, over here!"

Kagome turned and saw Shippou, the kitsune kit. "Shippou?" she asked, disbelief coloring her tone. "I'm coming…" She said, encouraged by Tessaiga's gentle prods against her back. She moved with just enough time to see yet another thunder ball barrel past her. _If I get used to that, then I'm amazing,_ she decided. She sighed. Her bow was broken, courtesy of Manten; she'd wasted all of her arrows earlier, too. She was defenseless. Tessaiga couldn't do anything, being a sword-spirit and all, and Inuyasha was battling Hiten. That left her to deal with Manten alone. "I wish I could get that arrow," she sighed, and Shippou grinned.

"I can help get it back, if you want," he offered, and Kagome took note of his sly grin.

"What's your plan, Shippou?" She asked softly, and knelt down. The kit began whispering in her ear.


	9. Calling

**Calling**

Tessaiga was still snarling angrily at Manten; Kagome's eyes were hopeful after hearing Shippou's plan; and Shippou looked very, very satisfied. Altogether, it was an interesting combination, but it was one that was going to have to make things work. Shippou, of course, had no idea that Tessaiga was there and going to help Kagome, but that didn't really affect anything. All it meant was that Kagome would have extra protection that hadn't been planned for—that was fine.

"Ready, set, go!" Shippou mouthed, and then he transformed into a duplicate of Kagome. The real Kagome, Tessaiga a few steps behind her, took off to hide behind a boulder, and then the three waited for Manten to fall for it.

"I can smell you, onna," Manten rumbled, and then he belched up a thunder-ball and blasted it into the rock that Shippou was hiding behind. Kagome had to give the small kit credit. He kept up the transformation even though he was getting pelted by rock bits, which was more than she'd have been able to do. Tessaiga shoved her forward, and she started running towards Manten, resolve strengthened when she saw Inuyasha struggling. Even though the hanyou was rude, brash, and ill-mannered, she couldn't just let him die. He was her friend—and the only one who could wield Tessaiga, what with the youkai barrier that it held.

"Can you really?" Kagome muttered as she reached up and dragged the arrow out of its resting place in Manten's nose, and ran for her life. Tessaiga was sending waves of youki to her, trying to give her more energy to last. She made it to the point she and Shippou had decided to meet at and crouched down, panting. _I don't think I want to do that again,_ she thought, _but it was quite exhilarating._

"Oh, Shippou!" Kagome exclaimed, suddenly realizing the key instrument she'd forgotten. "I can't shoot the arrow if I don't have a bow! And I'm not that good of a shot yet," she moaned.

"Don't worry, one bow comin' right up!" Shippou declared, and transformed into a bow.

"Shippou!"

'_Don't worry, with me you won't miss your shot,' _the kitsune promised, and Kagome took aim at Hiten's wheels. Hiten had wheels at his ankles, which made it so that he could fly and move faster than Inuyasha, and that wasn't a fair advantage. Kagome took care of that by releasing the arrow and breaking the wheel with her last shot.

She growled. "Shoot, I missed," she muttered, and Shippou sniggered.

"You may've missed your original goal," he said, "but you hit Hiten's wheel, and broke it in half."

Kagome cheered.

Then Manten was on her.

Tessaiga's rage permeated into Kagome's aura, as well as Inuyasha's. The miko neutralized the rage; the hanyou made it more prominent. "You bastards!" Inuyasha snarled. He risked a glance at Kagome again, and rage shook through him. Suddenly, a low growl permeated the rage to reach his mind. _"Throw the sword, Inuyasha," _it said. _"Throw the sword Tessaiga if you want to save the miko!"_

Inuyasha launched the sword into the air and watched its progress with anxious gold eyes.

**A/N: Wow! I never thought the Thunder Brothers would take this much of my time… Oh well. It's fun! And I think I'm going to have to change the character pairing in this… the story keeps evolving into something different as I write it… Tell me what you think!**


	10. The Monk and the Slayer

**The Monk and the Slayer**

Kagome still was shocked by the events of what had happened with the Thunder Brothers. At random, the fang of Inutaisho had rocketed through the air to nail Manten right before he blasted her with the thunder he produced, and Tessaiga's face had relaxed when the blade had stayed near her for more than two minutes. However, Inuyasha was struggling as he tried to defend himself against the awful lightning-based weapon that Hiten wielded.

The fang's sheath summoned the fang away from Kagome and brought the rage back onto Tessaiga's face. Inuyasha defeated the Thunder Brothers. While that was going on, Shippou's dead father had been watching over them and kitsune bi had radiated away from the pelt that had been wrapped around Manten's wide waist, curling sweetly over both miko and kit. Tessaiga's eyes widened and then he grinned at someone that was unseen by Kagome. Tessaiga's own warm youki had been entangled with Kagome's aura, and that feeling of safety was only heightened with the addition of the kitsune bi.

She sighed. So much had happened that she couldn't keep up with. Their shard-hunting group had grown larger with the addition of the kitsune, the monk Miroku, and the demon slayer Sango with her fire-cat. The priestess Kikyou that Inuyasha had been in love with fifty years previous had been resurrected with the use of a bit of Kagome's soul. Tessaiga had been enraged and attempted to kill the undead priestess, but Inuyasha wouldn't wield the fang against his lover. The comparisons between Kagome and Kikyou had gotten so much worse after that, and she couldn't stand it. She'd left for home so many times because of that.

And, thanks to her anger, that was how she'd found out that Tessaiga followed her _everywhere._ He followed her back to her own time, and it was quite amusing to see the way that he was impressed by almost every single thing that he saw around him in her time. He had the most expressive face that Kagome had ever seen, and it made it hard to keep a straight face when he accompanied her to the mall once. He'd been in awe of the huge steel structures.

She missed the past a lot, and it was Tessaiga's presence that made it easier for her when that happened. He also would growl at Inuyasha when the hanyou tried to drag her back to the past, and that made Kagome happy.

That made her realize that she didn't hang around for Inuyasha's sake, but for Tessaiga's—and _that_ opened up a whole new world of possibilities for her.


	11. Sneaking Kisses

**Sneaking Kisses**

Kagome went back to the Feudal Era after all of her ire had been washed away by her amusement of the expressions that crossed her youkai companion's face when he saw her time. Her favorite was when they'd passed by an automatic door; when the two doors had slid open to welcome them into the store, Tessaiga's upper lip had curled and he'd leapt in front of Kagome to defend her from the doors. When she'd stepped away from them to let Tessaiga relax a bit, he'd watched with amazement as the doors opened and closed to allow customers entrance to the store. It'd taken a few minutes, but he'd finally allowed Kagome to go into the store.

She wondered what he'd do if he saw an escalator, and then Tessaiga's low rumble of a growl caught her attention and dragged it back to the present. The dog-sword youkai was baring his teeth at one of Kikyou's soul stealers, the filmy soul clutched between its strange arms like a treasure. Kagome sighed and followed the soul stealer. Well, she wasn't really _following _it because she wanted to, but because her bike was in the same direction that the soul stealer was going. Tessaiga was snarling the entire time, one intangible arm slung over Kagome's shoulders. She enjoyed the heightened sense of youki, but when that sense became sometime different that safety, she started shivering.

"Ah, my reincarnation . . ."

Kikyou's delicate, willowy voice drifted to Kagome's ears. "It makes sense that you would be able to pass through my barrier." The older miko rested in a tree branch, and Kagome stifled a giggle. She knew where _that_ habit must've come from, and the _who_ of that habit it'd come from as well. "Why are you here?"

"Because I am the one who shattered the Shikon Jewel," Kagome said, pressing forward. "Because it is my duty to return until the Jewel is completed again."

Kikyou's smile wasn't friendly. "No, why are you _here_, at this spot?"

"Oh." Kagome blushed; that was what the miko had meant, not how she'd responded. "Because my bike is here." Suddenly Kikyou wasn't paying attention to Kagome anymore, Tessaiga's arm tightened around her shoulder, and a familiar feeling crept towards her. Inuyasha was coming.

"Well, now," Kikyou said, "Isn't this a pleasant surprise." She leapt rather delicately from the tree limb and made a motion; that motion spurred the soul stealers around her into action. Kagome soon found herself bound to an old tree by the dragon-like bodies of the soul stealers; Tessaiga was in front of her, snarling and growling fiercely as he dragged his long claws through the soul stealers, trying to get them to release her. It didn't work.

Kagome knew that Inuyasha was coming, so she did the second thing that came to her mind—she screamed for him. "INUYASHA!"

"Shush, girl," Kikyou ordered. "He won't be able to hear you."

Kagome's heart sank. She was stuck, and Tessaiga couldn't help her. She stayed bound to the tree as Inuyasha entered the clearing, a relieved expression crossing over his face when he saw Kikyou. Bitterness filled Kagome, and she tuned out the words that they were saying, instead focusing on their actions.

What happened shocked her.

Kikyou leaned in and kissed Inuyasha.


	12. ManEater?

**Man-Eater?**

Kagome had expected to be hurt, maybe a little bit broken after seeing Kikyou kiss Inuyasha. In the end, though, it turned out that she simply felt a little bit out of place. She was bound to a tree, watching her past self kiss the hanyou she had loved. It was that awkwardness that clued her into the realization that it wasn't Inuyasha that she loved. If she was being honest with herself, she didn't love _anyone_ in a romantic way. She loved her friends as friends. She regarded her friends as a type of extended family, anyways. Lecherous Miroku and stoic Sango, who wasn't truly as stoic as she pretended to be; the little kitsune and cowardly Myouga the Flea; even rude and brash Inuyasha had earned a place in her heart as family.

Of course, she wasn't saying that she didn't envy Kikyou. She just wasn't broken about it or too terribly hurt. However, after that experience there was one thing that bothered her. Kikyou, willowy and quiet, had released her from her bondage and whispered, "This absence of rage and hurt and hatred is what proves that you are your own person, who carries her own soul. My soul is where it belongs, and I'm simply existing off of borrowed time that your soul offers me." Then the mysterious priestess and her Soul-Stealers had disappeared into the night, leaving Kagome to stumble back to camp.

Now Kagome had someone to worry over. Sweet Sango and her fire cat Kirara hadn't escaped from Naraku's grasp unscathed, and Kagome's futuristic first-aid kit didn't have anything that would help them. What she needed to get was herbs, and she didn't know where to find the herbs that she needed in the forest. It was two passing villagers who finally answered her unspoken plea for help. "That man-eater struck again!" one said, and his companion made a hissing sound. "I can't believe that he lives so close to our village on that herb farm of his and still has the gall to eat our villagers, too!"

"No, it's his witch of a mother," the companion said, his voice a little bit breathy from his load of wood. "She's the one that runs the farm, and it's all an elaborate cover-up. Peaceful Jinenji, my ass!"

Kagome backed into the trees and ran back to her camp. "Inuyasha, I need your help," she said, and the hanyou looked at her. "Please. I don't want to go on my own."

Inuyasha sighed and stood. "Fine. What is it, Kagome?"

"I overheard two villagers talking about some sort of man-eating youkai. It's bothering their village, and apparently there's a witch who runs an herb farm. I need to go there, and I need you to go with me so that you can track down that man-eater. I don't think it has a Shikon shard, but it might." She was manipulating him into helping her, but she really didn't care. It'd be good for Inuyasha, and she'd end up accomplishing her goal.

Inuyasha ushered her onto his back and started to run. "We'll get that man-eater," he crowed happily, and Kagome stole a glance at her Tessaiga. He rolled his eyes and reached over to pat her on her head. The meaning was easy to understand: _He can hunt the man-eater. I'll be staying with you._

Kagome felt at ease, even as Inuyasha entered the village to stares and cries of outrage.


End file.
